


human nature

by HannahPelham



Series: University of Norland [2]
Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, Uni AU, here have some stringwood, the further drunken adventures of lizzy and jane bennet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 16:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21102839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: Charlotte Heywood begins her life at the University of Norland, and meets a man by the name of James Stringer. Modern AU. A sort of prequel to 'prosaic, unromantic, sensible'.





	human nature

**Author's Note:**

> As you all seemed to like 'prosaic, unromantic, sensible' so much, I thought I'd chuck the prequel at you, which sets up the animosity between Stringer and Charlotte in that. Enjoy!

When she signed up for the University of Norland’s women’s cricket team, Charlotte Heywood hadn’t expected to have been invited to a party straight away, and certainly not one at one of the other colleges. As far as she knew, the inter-college rivalries between Kellynch, Sanditon, and Pemberley ran deep. She attended Kellynch College, and suddenly found herself in the common room of Sanditon, not somewhere she ever expected to be. She made herself a vodka coke at the table in the corner that was stacked perhaps too high with booze and mixers, and found a spot on the edge of the rabble. She leant on the wall, feeling a tad out of place. It was only her first week at university and now she was with a bunch of people from other colleges that she didn’t know. She watched for a while, laughing every now and then as someone inevitably did something stupid, for a drinking game or otherwise. She didn’t mind standing on her own, really. She liked to consider herself a very independent sort of girl. She did, however, find somebody approaching her after a while.

“Are you alright?” He asked. Charlotte looked up at him as he pulled her out of her daze. He had a kind face, rather a nice face really, she thought. 

“Yes, thank you. Sorry, I was miles away”

“I guessed as much. I’m James, James Stringer” He said. 

“Charlotte Heywood” She replied, shaking his outstretched hand somewhat sarcastically. 

“Are you at Sanditon? I’ve not seen you around before”

“Kellynch, and I’m a first year. I’m studying architectural design”

“How funny” James replied, “So am I, architectural design I mean. I’m a second year here at Sanditon”

By the end of the night, Charlotte and James were friends on facebook, had each other’s phone numbers, and had agreed to meet up for brunch the next weekend. 

It was as Charlotte was walking home to Kellynch that she realised she wanted it to be a date. Wanted it to be, hoped it would be.

Any thoughts of James Stringer of Sanditon College, Norland, were completely wiped from Charlotte’s mind the minute she walked through the door. The Bennet sisters of Kellynch, third year Jane and second year Elizabeth were attempting some very bad karaoke, and Charlotte realised that she’d need to be the responsible one, despite being drunk too. She shepherded them both to bed and made sure they each had a pint of water by their beds for the morning, when their mouths would inevitably feel like sandpaper. She made her way to bed, and found herself dreaming of James Stringer. 

Charlotte was woken up the next morning by two very hungover Bennet sisters, bursting into her room with as much enthusiasm as their hungover bodies could manage, and a bacon sandwich. Charlotte downed her pint of water and ate the sandwich as Jane and Lizzy made themselves comfy in Charlotte’s small single bed. 

“So, how was the cricket party?” Jane asked.

“Meet any hot boys?” Lizzy continued. Jane rolled her eyes as Charlotte blushed. 

“Well…” Charlotte started, as she sipped her tea, “there is this one guy. He’s on the cricket team and he’s going architectural design too. We’ve agreed to go for brunch next week”

Suddenly, Jane and Lizzy felt much less hungover. They’d already become older sister figures to Charlotte, disliking their own younger sister, and this development was exciting news. 

“Which college?”

“Sanditon, why?” Charlotte asked, wondering what Lizzy and Jane were planning. 

“Oh good, he’s not one of those Pemberley arseholes. They’re all wankers” Lizzy replied, flopping down to lie next to Charlotte. 

“Um” Jane protested, squeezing between the other two girls and making her way under the duvet, 

“Charlie is the exception, Jane, don’t worry” Lizzy quickly corrected. Charlie Bingley was the only nice bloke she’d met from Pemberley College. 

The three spent their whole morning curled up in Charlotte’s bed, feeling sorry for themselves and talking about their boyfriends/crushes. It was the most cliche thing any of them had ever done, but none of them could think about anything else. 

Charlotte was halfway through a lecture a few days later when her phone buzzed. She looked down at it quickly so she didn’t get caught, and found her heart leaping when she saw it was from James, asking her when she wanted to go for brunch. She quickly tapped out a reply saying something along the lines of she was in a lecture at that moment but if he was free for lunch she’d like to go for lunch with him. She put her phone away before an answer came through, but she found it hard to concentrate on the rest of the lecture. She glanced at it about 10 minutes before the end:

** _James: _ ** _ I’ll meet you outside Kellynch. Where’d you want to go? _

Her heart skipped a beat. She really was going on a date with James Stringer. She couldn’t believe it. As it was still the beginning of term, she had put a little bit of effort into her appearance, something she was immensely glad of. 

Charlotte and James left their lunch hand in hand, but any hopes Charlotte had of keeping it low-key quickly dissipated when a few other members of the men’s cricket team wandered past them, raising their eyebrows at them. Charlotte ducked her head and blushed, and James couldn’t remember when he’d seen anyone look as wonderful as she did in that moment. 

A few hours later, Charlotte found herself back at Sanditon College, but not in the common room. She sighed happily as James reconnected his lips to hers, his hands working deftly to undo the buttons on her blouse. 

By the time the next Cricket Team society came around, Charlotte found herself sitting on a sofa in the Pemberley common room, James’ arm around her waist. She couldn’t remember ever being so happy, and she hoped it would last forever. 

Sadly but rather inevitably, dear reader, this was not the case. As is most often with relationships at this age, it did not last forever. Around six months later, as assignments and exams began looming, both Charlotte and James realised they didn’t have enough hours in the day. 

“Charlotte” James started, one day in the library. 

“James” Charlotte replied, wondering why he was calling her ‘Charlotte’ and not Lottie like he normally did. She looked at him, encouraging him to continue (though she was fairly sure what was coming). He took a deep breath. 

“I...this is too much, Charlotte,” James said, looking at her sadly, “we have so many exams and assignments and then tournaments and there’s so much pressure and I...um… I need to focus on my academic life. That isn’t to say I don’t love you, because I do. I love you so much it hurts sometimes, but..y’know”

Charlotte smiled sadly. She understood completely. She’d been thinking the same thing. They’d been so joined at the hip for the six months of their relationship that all they seemed to focus on was each other, not their university work or friendships or even the cricket team. 

“I do know, James, and I completely understand. We should...go our separate ways” Charlotte replied. James nodded. He packed up his things, gave Charlotte one last kiss, and left. 

Charlotte instantly broke down in tears. James had been the first real love of her life, and now it was over. When she’d thought about having this conversation with him, she’d imagined they’d stay good friends. She now realised this would be impossible with the lingering strength of their feelings towards one another. She was devastated, but she knew it would be for the best. 


End file.
